A Smile Can Light Even The Worst Of Days
by wolf of infinity
Summary: Vincent has a feeling he forgot something. Can his friends help him remember and lighten his mood? Just a small Friendship fic. No pairings. One-shot. Fairly sweet ;


**This is a small one-shot I wrote. No pairings, simply a fluffy, sweet little friendship fic. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters. **

**XooxooXooxooX**

Vincent Valentine didn't consider himself a lucky man, and this morning certainly was no exception. A nightmare made him fall out of bed early in the morning, and he woke up with a start, his head hurting from the brutal hit to the floor. He sighed heavily and stood, walking into the bath room. There, he took a shower to shake of the bad dream.

He had no chance of falling asleep again afterwards, due to a throbbing headache and so he was left with another empty day. He had a strange feeling that he was forgetting something, but he shook it of.

He had spent the day doing nothing in particular and was sitting in a chair, when a obnoxious beeping sounded from somewhere in the room. Narrowing his blood-red eyes at the sharp sound that hurt his head, he stood, looking around and following the sound. He found his newly bought phone under an old news paper and picked it up.

"Hello…" he answered gruffly, rubbing his temple as he spoke. "_Vincent! It's Tifa. I was wondering if you could pick Marlene up at her friend's house and take her back to 7__th__ Heaven? I'm busy and Cloud is away on an errand,_" he heard the female voice of his old comrade speak.

He wondered vaguely why she asked _him_ of all people to do it. "Where is it…?" he asked silently, not really having anything else to do. Tifa told him the address, said thank you at least eleven times before hanging up.

Vincent stood, stretching his stiff limbs before putting on the red cape and putting Cerberus in the holster on his hip. Then he left, leaping across the roof tops towards the house where Marlene was supposed to be.

He got there within ten minutes and landed on the door step, knocking softly and a bit awkwardly on the door. He heard foot steps and the door opened, showing a teen age girl with much make up and gum in her mouth. She stared at him, and Vincent swore her jaw dropped for a second before she caught herself. "Is Marlene here?" he asked, his voice gruff and deep as usual. "Y-yeah," the girl replied when the question reached her brain.

She turned, eyes still sideward on Vincent. "Marlene!" she called. Soon a girl with blonde curls came down the stairs, along with Marlene. Marlene looked at him and smiled, running over to him. "Uncle Vincent!" she exclaimed. The teenager girl was still staring at him with a dreaming expression, and the little blonde girl, presumably Marlene's friend, stared at him with wide eyes. "Tifa asked me to pick you up," Vincent said silently, feeling a bit self-conscious at the stares he was getting. "Ok, I'll just get my sleep-over stuff," she said and ran back up the stairs.

She came back with a small back pack that she put on her back, and said bye to her friend and what had to be her friend's sister. Then they left. "Uncle Vincent, I'm hungry… Can we buy food somewhere before going back?" Marlene asked with her bright smile. "You will have to ask Tifa about that…" Vincent said, handing her his phone. He didn't have the faintest idea why she would want to eat with him, when they could be back at the bar within ten minutes… She used his phone and called Tifa quickly.

To Vincent's surprise and wonder, Tifa said that it was all right, and he was left with a cheerful child in the middle of a town where the people tossed them odd looks and stares. They found a small restaurant where Marlene wanted to eat and walked inside, sitting down by a table.

The young waitress came over and looked at him with a strange expression and a blush. Marlene quickly ordered food, and Vincent ordered some kind of sandwich, not because he was hungry but to please Marlene who kept looking at him expectantly until he ordered something.

"You have to eat, Uncle Vincent!" she said when the waitress left. He simply looked at the innocent little girl. "You're so thin," she said. Now, _that_ he hadn't expected and he blinked. Scary and tough was two of the words used to describe him, thin was not one of them, since he usually wore the cape and mantel and no one would think about it… The fact that a little child like her noticed was… surprising.

She smiled sweetly and started telling about her sleep over and how fun she and her friend had while she was there. He listened quietly, a soft smile on his lips behind the collar of the cape.

The food came and they ate in silence for a while. Outside the sky darkened with clouds and soon the rain fell on the streets, making people rush to find shelter or get their umbrellas. Vincent looked out on the rain with a small sigh. His head still hurt, although the bump had probably gone away long ago. It was just one of those days. And that nagging feeling was still bothering him.

"You don't like rain, Uncle Vincent?" he heard Marlene ask and looked down at her in question. "You were sighing…" she said matter-of-factly. "I don't mind rain…" he said silently. "Then what is wrong?" she asked. Once again, she caught him of guard. This girl seemed to read his mind or something.

"Guess I just have a bad day…" he murmured, not really directed at Marlene, simply thinking aloud. She looked at him. "Tifa says that you should come over more often," she said after a while with a smile. He looked at her. "Everyone wants to see you, you're our friend!" she said. He looked at her, slightly more wide-eyed. "Why would anyone want to be with someone like me…?" he asked, confused. "You're part of the group, and you always help us," Marlene said. "Part of the group…" Vincent repeated softly.

He had never considered himself a part of the group of friends. Not once had he thought that anyone would care if he was there or not… "I want to see you smile…" Marlene said silently after a while. He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "I bet you have a beautiful smile!" she said and smiled brightly.

After eating, Marlene said she had to get something from a shop and Vincent waited outside, because she said he couldn't come and that it was secret. Afterwards they walked back to Tifa's bar, the rain shower having stopped for the time being. It had turned fairly cold, and Vincent took of his mantle, draping it around Marlene's shoulders. She smiled up at him gratefully.

When they reached the bar, it seemed closed, the lights were of and it was very quiet. Vincent was a bit baffled at this, as it was still early and not near closing hours. The two of them walked up to the door and Marlene opened it, running inside the dark living room and leaving Vincent standing in the door way, confused.

Suddenly all the lights were turned on and a cheerful chorus of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VINCENT!" rung across the room. He blinked, his emotionless mask falling as he stared at everyone there.

A large banner was hung up over the bar, reading "Happy birthday, Vince". He saw Cloud and Tifa standing behind the bar, Yuffie and Cid, Barret and Red and Marlene standing there, smiling happily.

"What…" he began, but stopped, not finding the words. He suddenly remembered what it was he had forgotten. The calendar on the wall read October the 13. His birthday. "He's speechless!" Yuffie laughed. "Yo, Vince, hope you weren't planning to spend the big day alone?" Barret said with a jovial smile.

"I…" Once again, no words seemed to want to escape his lips. He saw several presents lying on the bar and then Marlene came over to him, fishing out a package from her bag, the thing she had bought in the shop. She smiled and gave it to him. He took it uncertainly. "Go on, open it!" she encouraged. He opened the package and the small box.

He found himself looking at a picture frame with a picture of the whole group, and Marlene, all of them smiling brightly. He was standing beside Cloud and Yuffie was holding his arm in a friendly manner, grinning at the camera. He remembered that moment very well. "I went there with the picture yesterday, so they could put it in a frame and wrap it in," Marlene said as he looked at the card that followed with it.

Written in a child's handwriting was "_Happy Birthday, Uncle Vincent! Love, Marlene._" A warm feeling spread through him and for the first time, he felt like he was finally a part of the group. He realized just how great friends he had. "I knew you'd have a beautiful smile!" he heard Marlene say happily.

And he really was smiling, a sincerely happy smile, for the first time in many, many years. "Thank you…" he finally managed to say, and he felt that the rest of that day maybe wouldn't be so bad.

XxoxXxoxXxoxX


End file.
